Andretti Curse

The Andretti Curse, sometimes referred to as "the Andretti Luck," is in reference to the unexplainable bad luck the Andretti racing family has experienced in their efforts to win the Indianapolis 500. Patriarch and auto racing legend Mario Andretti won the race only once (1969), but never managed to win the great race for a second time by his retirement in 1994. The misfortune at Indianapolis has notably extended to his sons Michael and Jeff, nephew John, as well as grandson Marco, and to an in-direct extent, to his twin brother Aldo, and former car owner, the late Paul Newman.

Rather ironically, Michael, Jeff and Marco all followed in the footsteps of Mario by winning the Indy 500 Rookie of the Year award, but none of those three, nor John, have yet managed to win the race. Twice, when Michael Andretti's team won the Indianapolis 500, the driver subsequently defected to rival Chip Ganassi Racing the following year.

Over the years due to the many misfortunes, public address announcer Tom Carnegie made the words "Mario is slowing down," dubiously famous.

Mario Andretti

Mario was the first of the Andretti family to have success in top level motorsport, going on to have a long career and become one of the most successful drivers of all time. During his career, Andretti won four IndyCar titles, the 1978 F1 World Championship, and IROC VI (1978-1979). To date, he remains the only driver ever to win the Indianapolis 500, the Daytona 500 (1967), and the Formula One World Championship. Andretti had 109 career wins on major circuits. cite web | title=Biography | work=International Motorsports Hall of Fame | url=http://www.motorsportshalloffame.com/halloffame/2000/Mario_Andretti_main.htm | accessdate=2007-02-22 ] He was the first driver to exceed 200 miles per hour while practicing for the 1977 Indianapolis 500. cite web | title=ESPN Classic - Mario Andretti | work =ESPN | url=http://espn.go.com/classic/s/add_andretti_mario.html ]

In addition to his individual wins, Andretti has been enshrined in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum, the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, National Sprint Car Hall of Fame, as well as the Automotive Hall of Fame. He was named "Driver of the Year" three times, and "Driver of the Quarter Century" as well.

Mario competed 29 times in the Indianapolis 500, with only a single victory in 1969 to his credit, which occurred very early in his career. His quest for a second victory, to no avail, was well-documented by ABC Sports by about 1986 and 1987, when the broadcasts began airing features about a perceived bad luck "curse" that had overcome him at the Speedway.cite episode
title = 1986 Indianapolis 500 - Live!
episodelink = 1986 Indianapolis 500
series = ABC Sports
serieslink = ESPN on ABC
airdate = May 31
season = 1986
number = N/A] cite episode
title = 1987 Indianapolis 500 - Live!
episodelink = 1987 Indianapolis 500
series = ABC Sports
serieslink = ESPN on ABC
airdate = May 24
season = 1987
number = N/A] Andretti himself even mentioned that "Lady Luck" seemed be against him at times. Meanwhile, fellow "Brickyard" legends of his era (A.J. Foyt, Al Unser, Al Unser, Jr., Bobby Unser, Johnny Rutherford, Gordon Johncock, and Rick Mears) all racked up multiple Indy 500 wins to their credit.

In his lone 1969 victory, Mario drove car #2, from the second starting position. Never again in the 1900s would a car win from the second starting position. In fact, few cars ever mananged to finish the race from the second starting position in the decades following. Juan Pablo Montoya finally broke the streak by winning from the middle of the front row in 2000.

Indy 500 troubles

1966: Mario avoided the massive 11-car pileup on the start, and led 16 laps. However, despite the thinned-out field, he dropped out after only 27 laps with a bad valve.

1967: Mario loses a wheel and drops out after only 58 laps.

1968: Mario drops out after only 2 laps with a bad piston, and finished in last place.

1969: During practice, Mario wrecked his revolutionary 4-wheel drive Lotus, suffering burns to his face. A week later, he climbed into his back up car and still managed to qualify for the front row. His twin brother Aldo stood in for him for qualifying pictures. Despite the incident, Mario went on to win the race in impressive fashion. Aldo, however, was not as fortunate, as less than three months later, he suffered a severely fractured face in a career-ending sprint car accident.

1971: Mario wrecks out in turn 3 after 11 laps, placing 30th.

1972: Mario runs out of fuel with 6 laps to go, and falls to 8th place.

1973: At the start, a massive crash involving Salt Walther halts the race. Two days later, the race finally gets going, but Mario completes only 4 laps and drops out with a bad piston.

1974: Mario suffers yet another early drop out, completing only 2 laps. He dropped out with a bad valve, and finished 31st.

1975: Despite racing regularly in Formula One, Mario skips the Belgian Grand Prix to race at Indy. He would crash out on the backstretch.

1976: A conflict with the Italian Grand Prix prevents Mario from qualifying at Indy on pole day. On the second weekend of qualifying, he posts the fastest speed in the field, but as luck would have it, he is forced to start deep in the field as a third-day qualifier.

1977: Another busy schedule finds Mario squeezing in Indy right after Monaco. He drops out and finishes 26th.

1978: Early in the race, Andretti lost 8 laps when he had to make a long pit stop to change a spark plug wire. He was effectively out of contention very early on, and wound up 15 laps down at the finish.

1979: Monaco and Indy are held the same day, therefore Mario was forced to skip the 1979 Indy 500.

1980: No date conflict in 1980 allows Mario to try Indy again during a Formula One off-week. Much of the same though, as he drops out and finishes 20th.

1981: Mario finished second in the 1981 race, eight seconds behind winner Bobby Unser. The following day Unser was penalized one lap for passing cars under a caution flag, and Mario was declared the winner. Unser and his car owner Roger Penske appealed the race stewards' decision. USAC overturned the one lap penalty four months later, restoring Unser as the winner.

1982: Mario had firmly returned to race full-time in the CART series. At the start, Mario was tangled up in the infamous Kevin Cogan crash, and was out before the green flag.

1983: Mario joins the new Newman/Haas Racing team, with co-owners Carl Haas and Paul Newman. His race ended in a crash for the second year in a row.

1984: He was in contention to win in 1984, but mechanical trouble forced him out of the race, and Rick Mears won by two laps.

1985: Danny Sullivan passes Mario for the lead on the 120th lap, but immediately spins. Andretti somehow avoids contact and regains the lead. Both drivers pit under the ensuing caution, and Sullivan passes Mario again, this time cleanly, to go on for the win. Mario had described the 1985 race as his "best chance to win" perhaps in his career, but managed only a disappointing second place.

1986: After a decent qualifying run, Mario badly wrecked his car in a mid-week practice run. He was forced to start an unproven back-up car at the rear of the field. The car only lasted 19 laps on race day.

1987: Mario dominated the 1987 event, and in fact, the entire month of May. He won the pole position, the pit stop contest, and led the daily practice speed chart every day he took practice laps. He led 170 of the first 177 laps, giving up the lead only during pit stops sequences. Shockingly, his race ended with electrical failure with only 23 laps to go. Al Unser, of the rival Unser family, won his record-tying fourth Indy 500 after Andretti's, and later Roberto Guerrero's, misfortunes.

1988: Mario was one of the fastest drivers in practice, but on pole day his speed was curiously slow and disappointing. On race day, his car was plagued with electrical problems, and dropped out after the halfway point.

1989: Around the halfway mark, Mario was forced to the pits with a throttle problem. After losing several laps, Mario returned to the track after repairs. Mario found himself running at the finish, albeit 7 laps down in 4th place, which is considered an unusually large deficit for fourth place in the modern era. 1989 was the first year he was teamed-up with his son Michael, who blew an engine while leading.

1990: Mario drops out with engine trouble after 60 laps, finishing 27th.

1991: Andretti coasted to a stop at the pit entrance with nine laps to go. A mild controversy emerged when observers speculated that Andretti stopped on purpose. Andretti's son Michael Andretti took the lead on lap 188, and a lap later was passed by Rick Mears. Mears had begun to pull away, and the win looked out of reach for Michael. The ensuing caution Mario brought out allowed the field to bunch back together, and gave Michael one last opportunity to win. Mears held on to win, and the controversy eventually fizzled.

1992: At the start, Mario and his son Michael led the field into the first turn. Michael came around in first, and Mario already a somewhat distant second. On the 5th lap, a caution came out. Mario ducked into the pits with a misfire. After several pitstops, the problem was fixed and he returned to the track, but dropped down the standings a lap down. Later in the race, Mario pit for tires, and crossthreaded a wheelnut. He was again shuffled down in the running order. A few moments later, on a restart, he crashed in turn four. He was among several front-runners to crash due to cold tires on the unusually cold afternoon. Mario suffered broken toes, and was taken to Methodist Hospital in downtown Indianapolis for surgery. A short time later, Mario's son Jeff shattered both of his legs in a terrible crash, and was also taken to the hospital. Both required considerable rehabilitation, although Jeff's was significantly more severe. Back at the track, Mario's other son Michael was dominating the race, and looked poised to win. However, with 11 laps to go, his car quit, and he was out of the race. Ironically, the rival Unser family prevailed over the dismayed Andrettis yet again, with Al Unser Jr. winning and Al Unser Sr. finishing third. In his autobiography "Andretti", Mario described the day, which saw him laid up in a hospital bed, witnessing his youngest son's serious injury, and then woke up to hear the news that his other son Michael had lost, as the "worst day of my life."

1993: The 1993 race was Andretti's last notable run. He had just come off a victory at Phoenix, and actually led the most laps at Indy before developing handling problems late in the race and falling to fifth place.

1994: Mario's last race at Indy. He entered with much fanfare through his "Arividerchi Mario" tour. His race was very short though, and he dropped out early due to mechanical problems.

In total, Mario finished all 500 miles just five times, including his lone victory.

2003: On April 23, 2003, in the lead up to the 2003 Indy 500, Mario took to the track for the first time in ten years in a major open wheel car. He participated in a test session for son Michael's AGR IndyCar team. One of the team's regular drivers, Tony Kanaan, suffered a radial fracture of his arm on April 15 a crash a week earlier at Motegi. If Kanaan was not cleared to drive in enough time, tentative plans were being prepared for Mario to qualify the car for him. He would turn the car over to Kanaan on race day. No plans had yet been made though for Mario to actually drive in the race.

During the test session, it was noted by many observers that despite his lack of experience in modern Indy cars (which had changed substantially since his retirement) and his advanced age (63), he quickly reached competitive speed. He was quickly over 212 mph, and looked "as if he had never been away." The success of the testing caused growing speculation during the afternoon that Mario may even attempt to qualify for the race.

With only 2 minutes left in the day, Kenny Brack crashed in turn one, and the yellow light came one. Mario entered turn one at full speed, and struck debris on the track from Brack's car. The object, identified by most as the rear wing, forced the nose of Mario's car to become airborne, and the car went into a rapid double reverse somersault at speeds exceeding 200 miles per hour. Television footage from the WTHR helicopter-cam showed that the car clipped the top of the debris fence, and was nearly high enough to go over it. The car fell back to the ground, slowed by its mid-air tumble, and slid to a stop. Luckily, the car landed right side up and Andretti walked away from the crash with very minor injuries.

Mario initially shrugged off the accident, and still contemplated returning to qualify the car in May. A day later, however, he reconsidered, and has not climbed back into a race car. This was Mario's last significant on-track activity at Indianapolis to date.

Indy 500- Races involved in crashes
*1967 (lost wheel), 1969 (practice), 1971, 1975, 1982, 1983, 1986 (practice), 1992, 2003 (testing)

Indy 500- Races suffering mechanical/engine failure
*1966, 1967, 1968, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1977, 1980, 1984, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1994

Indy 500- Races leading the most laps without winning
*1985, 1987, 1993

Mario Andretti and Le Mans

Mario's run of bad luck also extends to his many attempts at Le Mans, which began with his 24hLM|1966 debut, sharing a Holman & Moody Ford MKII with Lucien Bianchi, as they had being at the top 10, their car dropped a valve at 10.30pm, causing them to retire.cite news
url =http://www.gt40.org.uk/Le%20Mans/1966.htm
title =Le Mans 1966
publisher =The Roaring Forties
accessdate = 2008-05-12] Further bad luck continued for the 24hLM|1967 race, as he was driving, his front brake locked, causing him to crash his Holman & Moody Ford MKIV at the Esses, his fellow team-mates, Jo Schlesser and Roger McCluskey driving MKIIB GT40s attempted to avoid Andretti's GT40 and crashed, but managed to avoid his car. McCluskey managed to pull Andretti to safety, which he had to be taken to hospital [ [http://www.imca-slotracing.com/1967-PART2.htm The Ford ] ] [ [http://www.gt40.org.uk/Le%20Mans/1967.htm 1967 ] ] . Mario would not return to the French classic until the end of his F1 career in 24hLM|1982 with an enormous fanfare, partnering with son Michael in a Mirage M12 Ford, despite having qualified 9th place, the pair found their car being removed from the starting grid 80 minutes before the start of the race,Ian Briggs. (1991), "Endurance Racing 1981-1991": Osprey Automotive. ISBN 1-85532-228-5] as an official discovered an oil cooler that was mounted behind the gearbox, contravening the rules, despite managing to pass initial scrutineering four days ago. Despite protests and complaints, the Andretti's entry was removed altogether, replaced by a Porsche 924 Carrera GTR, despite a formal complaint, team owner Harvey Cluxton, who took over the Mirage name from original founder John Wyer, would never return to the race again.

Their return for the following year was more successful as they finished third as well as their return in 24hLM|1988 with John which they finished 6th in a factory Porsche 962. Following Mario's retirement from full-time racing, he decided on a return to the Sarthe circuit to add a Le Mans victory to his achievements in 24hLM|1995 which he managed a 2nd place, his efforts for the following years was proved to be unsuccessful with a 13th place for 24hLM|1996 and then a DNF for 24hLM|1997. His final appearance was in 24hLM|2000 when he managed to finish 15th.

Michael Andretti

Michael is the son of Mario, and is the driver whom the Andretti Curse is equally as associated. Despite a successful career including a CART championship and a stint in F1, he has so far been unsuccessful in 16 attempts at winning the Indianapolis 500. He has completed the most laps, as well as led the most laps, of any driver who has never won the famous race. he is considered by some the best driver never to have woncite web | title=Indianapolis Star - Best driver never to win the Indy 500 | url=http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007705120431 ] .

1984: Michael Andretti starts his career at Indianapolis on a positive note, finishing 5th and sharing the Rookie of the Year award with Roberto Guerrero.

1986: Michael out-qualifies his father Mario and starts on the outside of the front row. He proceeds tolead the first 42 laps, and is among the fastest cars on the track. A poorly executed fuel strategy, however, forces him to pit with only 7 laps to go, and drops him to 6th place one lap down.

1987: Early on in the race, a pit fire halts his run. He ultimately drops out because a CV joint fails.

1988: With only a few laps remaining, a piece of bodywork falls off his car, bringing out the yellow, and forcing the race to finish under caution.

1989: Michael joins his father at Newman/Haas Racing. In one of his best races to date, Michael works his way to the lead in the second half. After leading 35 laps, his engine blows on the mainstretch just past the 400-mile mark.

1990: Early in the race, a brake fire causes Michael to lose considerable time in the pits. He eventually drops out with a vibration.

1991: Michael leads 97 laps, and appears to be on his way to win. With 18 laps to go, he leads Rick Mears by 15 seconds, but needs to make one final pit stop for fuel. A timely caution flag flies and loses minimal ground as he pits under the yellow. On the ensuing restart with 13 laps to go, he makes a daring pass on the outside in turn one to grab the lead from Mears. On the very next lap, Mears steals the thunder as he makes the exact same counter-move and quickly pulls out to a lead. Moments laps, Michael's father Mario suddenly coasts to a stop at the entrance to the pits. The yellow flag flies again, and bunches up the field. Many accused Mario of stopping on purpose in a ploy to aid his son. Whatever the case, the point is moot as Mears pulls away to the victory. Michael settled for second. This race was the first to feature four Andrettis, (Mario, Michael, Jeff, and John).

1992: Michael dominates the 1992 race, leading 160 of the first 189 laps. With only 11 laps to go, leading by over half a lap, his fuel pump suddenly fails and he coasts to a stop. He settles for 13th place.cite web | title=Video of Michael Andretti stopping during the 1992 Indianapolis 500 | url=http://www.champcarusa.com/andrettibreak.html ]

1993: Michael sits out the 1993 event, due to his now ill-fated participation in Formula One.

1994: Michael returns to the CART series for 1994, and returns to Indianapolis. In the first half, however, he suffers a flat tire, and loses a lap to the field. He finishes fourth on the track, but a late-race pit road speed infraction earns a one-lap penalty. He drops to 6th in the final standings.

1995: While leading on the 77th lap, Michael approaches lap traffic and brushes the wall in turn four. His suspension is too damaged to continue, and he finishes 25th.

1996-2000: Due to the rift between the CART series, and IRL, Michael does not compete at Indy.

2001: Michael follows suit with other CART teams and returns to race at Indianapolis. He leads 16 laps, and is leading the race during a rain delay just beyond the halfway point. Had the race been halted due to the rain, he could have been declared the winner. The red flag, however, does not come out at the time and the race resumes. Later on, rain halts the race again, but it resumes once more. At the end of the day, Michael settles for 3rd place.

2002: Nearing the end of his full-time driving career, Michael is not much of a factor, starting 15th and finishing 7th.

2003: A highly-publicized "final start" at Indianapolis sees Michael a race favorite. After financial troubles in CART, Michael purchased majority ownership of Team green and renamed it Andretti Green Racing. After leading 28 laps, Michael drops out of his final race before the halfway point, much like his father in 1994.

2004: Now a full-time owner, Andretti's team quickly became one of the top organizations in the Indy Racing League, and proved to be very competitive at Indy. Rain shortens the 2004 race, however, and Andretti's team finds itself in a notable but frustrating result of finishing 2nd-3rd-4th.

2005: Andrett's team breaks through as Dan Wheldon wins. After Wheldon's win, Andretti tells the media, "No more curse" as he shares in the milk celebration. [ [http://archive.southcoasttoday.com/daily/05-05/05-30-05/c10sp859.htm Andretti luck finally holds at Indy 500: 5/ 30/ 2005 ] ] Sitting on the sidelines, however, proved to be motivating, and in December, Michael announced he would come out of retirement to race in 2006 with his son Marco.

2006: In December 2005, Michael announced he would come out of retirement to race with his son Marco at Indy in 2006. Michael was an also-ran most of the day, but managed to stay on the lead lap all day. During a caution on lap 160, Michael (along with Sam Hornish, Jr.) ducked in to the pits to top of his fuel, in hopes of going the rest of the race without another stop. After the leaders sequenced through yellow flag pit stops, Andretti remarkably inherited the lead on lap 194. The race went back to green with 4 laps to go with Michael leading, and his son Marco behind him in second place. A lap later, Michael is quickly overtaken by Marco, who appears on his way to victory in his first race. Michael attempts some mild blocking, in order to protect his son's lead, but he is quickly passed by Sam Hornish, Jr. Marco ends up losing the lead on the final straightaway to the finish line, and the father and son Andrettis settle for second and third.

2007: In the wake of the 2006 near-miss, Michael returns for yet another encore, but experiences little success. He led one lap during a sequence of pit stops, but finished a lowly 13th. After the frustration, and in an effort to concentrate on his team cars, Michael announces he will again retire from driving.

Indy 500- Races involved in crashes
*1995 (brushed wall)

Indy 500- Races suffering mechanical/engine failure
*1987 (pit fire), 1989, 1990, 1992, 1994 (flat tire), 2003

Indy 500- Races leading the most laps without winning
*1991, 1992

The Next Chapter: Win the Race, Lose the Champion Driver

At Andretti Green Racing, a three-time Indy Racing League champion -- in 2004 (with Tony Kanaan), in 2005 (with Wheldon) and in 2007 (with Franchitti) -- the team has felt the unfortunate string of an odd curse.

Twice, the curse seems to have risen to the top of Michael's budding dynasty, and both times the beneficiary has been Chip Ganassi. Both times the Andretti Green Racing team has scored the win in the Indianapolis 500, the winning driver has defected to rival Chip Ganassi Racing for the ensuing season, with Dan Wheldon jumping to CGR's IRL team, and Dario Franchitti to CGR's NASCAR team.

Indy 500 - Races won as car owner, winning driver defects to rival team
*2005 (Wheldon), 2007 (Franchitti)

Marco Andretti

Marco is the son of Michael and the grandson of Mario. He has qualified for Indy 500 three times.

2005: Marco's first trip to Indianapolis had him finish 16th, two laps down, in the 2005 Freedom 100 for the Indy Pro Series. Marco marked the first Andretti win at the Brickyard since 1969 by winning the 2005 Liberty Challenge Indy Pro Series race on the infield road course three weeks later.

2006: Marco joined his father's Andretti Green Racing IndyCar Series team for 2006. His first Indy 500 saw him narrowly miss a historic victory. A crash by Felipe Giaffone instigated a caution period on lap 191. Marco's father Michael took the lead on lap 194 under caution when cars ahead of him made pit stops. At this stage, Marco was immediately behind his father in second place. One lap after returning to green-flag racing, Marco put a passing move on his father and took the lead, seemingly on the way to victory. However Sam Hornish, Jr., recovering from a penalty earlier in the race, was closing quickly.

Michael attempted to block Hornish as much as possible for his son, but Hornish got by and drove up behind Marco with 2 laps to go. Marco held Hornish off as long as possible, however Hornish managed a last gasp pass in the last 400 feet before the finish line winning by 0.0635 seconds. It was the second-closest finish in the history of the Indy 500, behind only the 1992 race. Many consider this to be the saddest event in Michael Andretti's racing history, with a father-son 1st-2nd finish being spoiled by Hornish.

Third-place finisher Michael had high praise for his son: "I felt so bad for Marco, but I'm so proud. He drove a hell of a race. I drove with him a hell of a lot in that race. He drove like a champion. He drove like he's been out there 10 years." But Marco wanted more: "Second's nothing," he said. cite news | title=More Frustration for Andrettis | work=The Indianapolis Star | page=R3 | date=2006-05-29 ]

2007: In a rain-interrupted race, Marco was a front runner for most of the afternoon. Late in the race, however, a spectacular crash with Dan Wheldon on the backstretch eliminated him from competition. His car flipped upside down after making contact with Wheldon, slid to the infield, and then righted itself. Marco was unhurt. The race ended moments later when the rain returned.

2008: Returning for his third Indy 500, Marco posted the fastest practice speed of the month, 228.318 mph, the morning of pole day time trials. Initially a favorite for the front row, his qualifying effort, however, was a visibly disappointing 7th.cite news
url =http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/racing/indycar/columns/story?columnist=blount_terry&id=3390202&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab7pos2
title =Marco unable to shake Andretti curse on Pole Day
publisher =ESPN.com
date = 2008-05-10
accessdate = 2008-05-12] On race day, Marco was a strong contender, and led in the second half, but was not without incident. On the 106th lap, Marco was battling for second and dove under teammate Tony Kanaan in the third turn. The move unsettled Kanaan's car, and Kanaan slid high and into the wall, then collected the car of Sarah Fisher. Marco was immediately blamed for the crash. While running second on lap 156, Marco pitted and the crew made a "trim" adjustment of his rear wing. The change shuffled him back to 4th, and rendered him uncompetetive for the final few laps. Marco settled for 3rd place.cite news
url =http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080528/SPORTS0107/305280012/1052/SPORTS01
title =Marco Andretti cites adjustments for knocking him off pace
publisher =indyStar.com
date = 2008-05-28
accessdate = 2008-05-28]

Jeff Andretti

Jeff is the son of Mario, and the brother of Michael. He has driven in the Indianapolis 500 three times (and failed to qualify on two other occasions). His first attempt at the race was 1990, however he was bumped from the field. His best finish was 15th in the 1991 race in his first start. In his second start year later in 1992, he became another victim of the infamous Andretti bad luck. During the first half of the race, the rear brake rotors kept slipping out of place. Just after the halfway point, the right rear wheel hub broke from his car at turn 2 and he crashed violently head-on into the wall, severely injuring both his legs.

This accident effectively curtailed Jeff's career - although he returned to racing shortly afterwards, he never achieved a similar level of success in subsequent competition in the Indy 500, Indy Lights and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. He returned to Indy in 1993, and experienced the rather dubious distinction of becoming the first driver to spin out on the newly-constructed warm-up lane during practice. It would be his final start at Indy, and on race day it ended with a crash. He failed to qualify in 1994, and did not return.

John Andretti

John is the son of Aldo Andretti, who is the brother of Mario. Therefore he is Michael and Jeff's cousin. He has had a long and successful career in several forms of motorsport, including wins in NASCAR, CART, and the 24 Hours of Daytona. He has also competed in NHRA drag racing. Most of his career has been spent in NASCAR.

John has made 9 starts at the Indianapolis 500, with a best finish of 5th in the 1991 event. This includes a gap of thirteen years between the 1994 race and the 2007 event. Though his misfortunes have not been as pronounced as his fellow family members, his success has been mediocre.

In the 1990 race, John clipped the outside wall in turn four, and spun lazily in turn one. In the 2007 race, he lost a mirror early on, then crashed near the halfway point. Mechanical trouble has dropped him from the race in 1988 and 1989, but the remainder of his starts have produced four top 10 finishes.

Paul Newman

Starting in 1983, Paul Newman joined the ranks of Champ Car owners, teaming with Carl Haas to form Newman/Haas racing. In their first year, Mario Andretti signed as primary driver, an arrangement that would carry Andretti through the remainder of his career, until his retirement in 1994. Michael Andretti joined the team from 1989-1992 and again from 1995-2000. For the better part of the 1980s and 1990s, the team was closely aligned with the Andretti family.

Like the Andretti family, Newman's team experienced tremendous success in Indy car racing, with the notable exception of victory at Indianapolis. During Newman's tenure, the team won over 100 Champ Car races and eight season championships. With Mario and Michael at the helm, as well as other championship drivers over the years, such as Nigel Mansell, Paul Tracy, and Sébastien Bourdais, the team has failed to achieve victory of any sort at Indianapolis.

Along with Mario's and Michael's many misfortunes during the 1980s and 1990s, Newman/Haas Racing's misfortunes at Indy include several near-misses and crashes. In 1993, Nigel Mansell was leading with 16 laps to go, only to lose the lead on a late-race restart. A year later, Mansell was involved in a strage crash where Dennis Vitolo landed on top of Mansell's car. Paul Tracy's only Indy start for the team in 1995 was cut short by a mechanical problem. In 2005, both Bruno Junqueira and Sébastien Bourdais were factors, but both crashed out. In 2008, after the open-wheel unification, and what would be Paul Newman's final Indy 500, again both drivers (Justin Wilson and Graham Rahal) crashed out.

References